SUGAR MAPLE 



(Acer Saccharttm) 



THE makers of sugar in the North call this tree sugar maple, but 

 lumbermen and users of wood nearly always speak of it as hard 

 maple. All maples and there are nearly a dozen are tolerably hard, 

 and sugar may be obtained from most of them ; but this species is hardest 

 of all, and the most prolific sugar maker, hence the two names are 

 appropriate. It is often called rock maple, which name refers to its 

 hard wood. In some regions the name most heard is sugar tree. 



Its range extends from Newfoundland through Canada to Lake 

 of the Woods, southward through Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas, and 

 Arkansas to Texas. It is found in every state east of the Mississippi, 

 but it is not abundant in the South. Its best development is found from 

 New England across the northern states to Michigan. Some very fine 

 sugar maple is found in fertile valleys and on slopes among the Appa- 

 lachian ranges from Pennsylvania southward. The largest lumber cut 

 of maple is in the following states, ranging in the order given: Michigan, 

 Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York, Ohio, Indiana, and 

 Vermont. Since the different species of maple are not reported separate- 

 ly in statistics, there is no way of determining how much each of the 

 maples supplies. It is well known that sugar maple greatly exceeds all 

 others. 



At its best this tree may exceed a height of 100 feet and a diameter 

 of three ; but the average for mature timber in the best part of its range is 

 sixty or eighty feet in height, and two in diameter. The flowers appear 

 with the leaves in early spring, but the seeds do not ripen until autumn, 

 when they are bright red. They are winged, and usually two grow 

 together, but they sometimes become detached, in which case each is 

 capable of flight with its single wing. It is characteristic of maple seeds 

 to whirl rapidly while falling, and if a moderate wind is blowing, they 

 glide considerable distances. They usually fly farther than the seeds of 

 ash although their wings are no larger. The immense numbers of seeds 

 borne by the sugar maple insure abundant reproduction in the vicinity 

 of parent trees. The seeds sprout readily, but often so closely crowded 

 together that most of them die the first few weeks. Not one in ten 

 thousand can even become a large tree, and yet large trees are exceed- 

 ingly abundant in extensive regions. They often form nearly pure 

 stands, crowding to death all rivals that try to obtain a foothold. On^ 

 the oth^f^ta4^E;gIinatpte--trfren contents itself with a place among 

 other forest trees. 



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